Adrian Gonzalez had just been drafted No. 1 overall by the Marlins in 2000 when he attended batting practice before his hometown Padres hosted the Cardinals. If he felt like a big shot, the photo he was about to pose for would fully disabuse him of the notion.

The picture, which remains in his home, still makes Gonzalez feel very, very small. There, with his arm around the smiling teen, was none other than Mark McGwire.

"I was about as scrawny as an 18-year-old could be," Gonzalez said yesterday, laughing. "I asked him to take the picture, and standing next to him was like, 'Man, he's big.' It's a cool picture."